Kansas And North Carolina State Caught In College Basketball Probe

An Adidas executive conspired with several others to pay the families of players to commit to Kansas and North Carolina State, according to a new court documents unsealed in New York late Tuesday.

Louisville and Miami had been the only schools involved in the FBI’s ongoing probe into corruption in college basketball.

Tuesday’s indictment now lists Kansas, Louisville, Miami (Fla.) and N.C. State as programs with players whose families received payments.

Each of the four universities are partners with Adidas, and according to Tuesday’s indictment, Jim Gatto, the former head of global sports marketing for basketball for Adidas, “defrauded” the schools by setting up the alleged pay-for-play deals in secret.

Gatto, along with former Adidas adviser Merl Code, and an aspiring agent, Christian Dawkins, had faced one wire fraud charge connected to allegations that they conspired the pay the parents of players to attend Louisville and Miami, both Adidas-sponsored schools, and to sign with Adidas when they turned professional. The new indictment adds charges related to those schemes, and also outlines similar allegations involving players who ultimately attended Kansas and North Carolina State.

In a letter to U.S. District Court Judge Lewis A. Kaplan on Tuesday, federal prosecutors said the indictment “adds no additional defendants or legal theories, but expands the scope of the conspiracy” to “defraud the victim-universities.”

All three individuals have pleaded not guilty. A trial is scheduled to begin Oct. 1.

Gatto has been placed on paid administrative leave by Adidas. Adidas is paying for Gatto’s defense costs. Code, who was based in South Carolina, has left Adidas.